Anyone who tries to evaluate what happened in terms of Prince Siddhartha leaving his family, and to judge that action based on today's standards really has a small view of things. Or, maybe they support arranged marriage. I don't know. Marriage today isn't even what it was 100 years ago, much less, 2,500 years ago and in a different civilization!

What people miss is the importance of the story.What Siddhartha had was the perfect life, yet he wasn't satisfied. He gave up traditional life and he had to crawl out of his comfort zone. And the family is very important, and also in terms of royalty and passing things from parents to children, the family line and so forth, this leaving home really symbolizes quite a lot. He really had to make a hard choice about what to do. It's about commitment, and the point is that he was as committed to finding an end to suffering as a person should be committed to his or her family. All beings became his family. So, it's not really accurate or fair to just write him off as a deadbeat dad.

Likewise, many single men today study dharma, and even if they do not become monks, they live the life of the wandering mendicant, or as a 'dharma bum' or whatever, free and easy and don't really have to go past a theoretical experience. But getting married can take you right out of that one-man buddha realm. having somebody else in your face all the time, or raising kids, that can really test you. All of a sudden you can't spend all day doing 'dharma practice' and you have to feed the baby and make more money. Then you really find out if all that 'dharma practice' is a string of beads hanging around your neck or if it is running through your veins.

Single is not better, and married is not better. it depends on the individual and it depends on not getting too cozy.

Profile Picture: "The Foaming Monk"The Chinese characters are Fo (buddha) and Ming (bright). The image is of a student of Buddhism, who, imagining himself to be a monk, and not understanding the true meaning of the words takes the sound of the words literally. Likewise, People on web forums sometime seem to be foaming at the mouth. Original painting by P.Volker /used by permission.

The married life of the bodhisattva.you may have to scroll down to read the caption.

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Profile Picture: "The Foaming Monk"The Chinese characters are Fo (buddha) and Ming (bright). The image is of a student of Buddhism, who, imagining himself to be a monk, and not understanding the true meaning of the words takes the sound of the words literally. Likewise, People on web forums sometime seem to be foaming at the mouth. Original painting by P.Volker /used by permission.

certainly Cindarella or Sleeping beauty is much more romantic ... lovely samsara!

Sönam

By understanding everything you perceive from the perspective of the view, you are freed from the constraints of philosophical beliefs.By understanding that any and all mental activity is meditation, you are freed from arbitrary divisions between formal sessions and postmeditation activity.- Longchen Rabjam -

Then the wedding of the Prince and Rosamond was held with all splendour, and they lived very happily together until their lives' end.

Sönam

By understanding everything you perceive from the perspective of the view, you are freed from the constraints of philosophical beliefs.By understanding that any and all mental activity is meditation, you are freed from arbitrary divisions between formal sessions and postmeditation activity.- Longchen Rabjam -

caveman wrote:How by running out the back door of the palace in the middle of the night and not having the balls to face your Father, Wife and new born son.

By spending 7 years with dope smoking Shivites?

Please don't tell that your defense for it lacks simple logic.

Buddha faced nothing not even his own cowardice.

Do you even read this thread? You are just NOT GETTING IT, whether you've read it or not. Also, you should brush up on the definition of the word "polite," if you're going to use it.I'm done here, it's useless.

May any merit generated by on-line discussionBe dedicated to the Ultimate Benefit of All Sentient Beings.

conebeckham wrote:No, Caveman, he did not.His comment is directed at the fact that your tradition does not have a "fatwa," it says nothing about anything happening to you....he's relieved that you, and your tradition, don't have a stipulation to kill heretics and apostates.

Please explain to us how you find that a threat against yourself, personally?

His comment was " Good for you "US" buddhist do not have fatwas (death sentences).

He said US buddhist don't have fatwas, US US US Buddhists, not Bon but Buddhist don't have fatwas.

Sorry but I got it and now the moderators and administrators of this site have it.

Last edited by caveman on Wed Jun 22, 2011 1:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

You could have just been honest from the beginning that you had a sectarian Bonpo agenda of criticizing the Buddha.

N

Its sounded that way after about the first page. Why would there be a need to debate Buddhas full enlightenment when this is where Buddhist teachings come from unless as a self cherishing religious comparative of how my beleif is superior to others.

Abandoning Dharma is, in the final analysis, disparaging the Hinayana because of the Mahayana; favoring the Hinayana on account of the Mahayana; playing off sutra against tantra; playing off the four classes of the tantras against each other; favoring one of the Tibetan schools—the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, or Nyingma—and disparaging the rest; and so on. In other words, we abandon Dharma any time we favor our own tenets and disparage the rest.

Caveman-This isn't a "Bon" website, it's a Dharma website, which includes a Bon subforum, as Bon is a Tibetan Dharma tradition.

Your original post, and in fact every post you've made since, except this last one, didn't specify that you were looking for only Bonpos to respond. And that, quite frankly, would be silly. In fact, I think it's disingenuous. And I think you've done your tradition a great disservice with your words, and with your general attitude, here on this thread.

As far as I'm concerned, Bonpo subforum is a great thing, but restricting access or discussion to Bonpos only is not.

May any merit generated by on-line discussionBe dedicated to the Ultimate Benefit of All Sentient Beings.